Continuous washing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A plurality of cloth articles are transported through a washing apparatus on a conveyor supported by a plurality of shafts extending through movable side walls of the washing apparatus and supported on bearings outside of the washing apparatus to prevent contact of the wash solution with the bearings supporting the shafts, orbital movement of the movable walls imparts similar orbital movement to the conveyor supported by the shafts to impart cycloidal movement to the cloth articles transported by the conveyor.

United States Patent [191 Bahnsen 1 11 3,722,232 [45] Mar. 27, 1973 [54] CONTINUOUS WASHING APPARATUS [75] Inventor: Erwin B. Bahnsen, Hinsdale, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Steiner American Salt Lake City, Utah [22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 184,574

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 879,764, Nov. 25, 1969. Pat.

[52] U.S. Cl ..68/3 SS, 68/44 [51] Int. Cl v a ..B05c 3/05, B05c 3/10 [58] Field of Search ..68/3 SS, 44. 43 175 Corporation,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,351,621 8/1920 Clarenbach ..68/3 SS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 448,947 4/1968 Switzerland ..68/3 SS Primary Examiner-William 1. Price [57] ABSTRACT A plurality of cloth articles are transported through a washing apparatus on a conveyor supported by a plurality of shafts extending through movable side walls of the washing apparatus and supported on bearings outside of the washing apparatus to prevent contact of the wash solution with the bearings supporting the shafts, orbital movement of the movable walls imparts similar orbital movement to the conveyor supported by the shafts to impart cycloidal movement to the cloth articles transported by the conveyor.

4 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEUmzmm SHEET Q [If 6 W06 ch66 PATENTEUmnzmrs ,7 2,232

sum 5 [1F 6 CONTINUOUS WASHING APPARATUS This is a division, of application Ser. No. 879,764, filed Nov. 25, 1969 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,214.

The present invention relates to apparatus for the industrial processing of soiled fabric articles and more specifically to an apparatus for washing the soiled fabric articles by imparting a cycloidal motion thereto to disassociate the soil therefrom. I I

An important object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for washing soiled articles comprising a tank for holding a wash solution, the tank includingmovable side walls, a conveyor for transporting the soiled articles through the tank, a plurality of shafts extending through the movable side walls of the tank for supporting the conveyor, the shafts being mounted on bearings outside of the tank, a plurality of seals between the shafts and the movable side walls of the tankfor preventing contact of the bearings with the wash solution thereby to prevent the wash solution from removing lubrication from the bearings, drive mechanism for imparting orbital movement to the side walls and thereby to the shafts, whereby rotation of the shafts and the orbital movement imparted thereto by orbital movement of the movable side walls impart cycloidal motion to the articles transported by the conveyor with respect to the wash solution in the tank t disassociate the soil from the articles.

The invention, both as to its organization and articles and the orbitable portion of the tank wall;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the orbital washer shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view partly in section of a portion of the orbital washer shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 4-4 and particularly showing shafts extending through the orbitable tank wall and supporting the wire mesh conveyors;

FIG. 5 is a view partly in section of a portion of the orbital washer shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 5-5 and showing a crankshaft extending through the orbitable tank wall and supported on bearings external of the tank;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the orbital washer shown in FIG. 12 and more particularly illustrating the conveyor assembly for transporting the soiled cloth through the tank;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side elevational view of the con-' veyor shown in FIG. 6 showing the conveyor at the loading end of the orbital washer; I

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side elevational view of the conveyor shown in FIG. 6 showing the conveyor at the discharge end of the orbital washer;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side elevational view partly in section of the conveyor, the support therefor and a portion of the drive mechanism therefor;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side elevational view showing the laminar relationship between the conveyor belts and the soiled articles supported therebetween;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the circled portion of FIG. 10 particularly showing the flexing of the soiled article as it is transported through the washer;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of a wire mesh suitable for use as one of the conveyor belts; and

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view of the eccentric portions of a crankshaft supporting the orbitable tank wall,

, fective to disassociate soil from the cloth fabric articles;

however, difficulties are encountered in maintaining the bearings supporting the conveyor lubricated due to the fact that the bearings are immersed in the wash solution. The novel method and apparatus of the present invention entirely eliminates the abovedescribed problem by mounting the shafts supporting the conveyor on bearings located at a point removed from the wash solution, thereby preventing the wash solution from contacting and removing the lubrication therefrom. An additional and entirely novel aspect of the present invention is the provision of mechanism for imparting orbital movement to an entire section of the tank walls, the apparatus supporting the movable walls including bearings also positioned external to the tank and therefore maintained out of contact with the wash solution contained therein.

Referring now to FIG. 1 to 5, the washer 525 includes a tank 530 for holding a wash solution, the tank 530 including two spaced-apart stationary side walls 531, an upper edge of each of the stationary side walls 531 being formed into an outwardly extending flange 532, the-stationary side walls 531 being generally U- shaped. The tank 530 further includes a bottom wall 533 interconnecting the side walls 531 and two spacedapart upstanding end walls 534, all for containing therein a wash solution 535. At the bottom of the tank 530 fixed to the bottom wall 533 are a pair of longitudinally extending laterally spaced-apart tracks 538, the

tracks 538 being for a purpose hereinafter to be explained.

The tank 530 also includes two movable side walls 541, each movable side wall 541 including at the upper edge thereof a stiffening angle 542, the side walls 541 further including two spaced-apart crank shaft apertures 543 and a plurality of conveyor support apertures 544, corresponding apertures 543 and 544 in each wall 541 being aligned and in registry to permit the passage therethrough of a horizontally positioned shaft. Affixed to the flange 532 on the stationary side wall 531 is a wall seal 546, the wall seal 546 being suitably secured to the flange 532 by means of a plurality of spacedapart washers 547, headed bolts 548 and fastening nuts 549.

Fixed to the outer side of each of the movable side walls 541 of the tank 530 is a support frame 555, the support frame 555 being generally channel-shaped and including two vertically spaced-apart legs 556 interconnected by a web portion 557, the legs 556 each have on the ends thereof and integral therewith attachment flanges 558 connected to the tank walls 541 by suitable nuts and bolts 559. The support frames 555 have provided therein two crank shaft apertures 563 in registry with the crank shaft apertures 543 in the movable side walls 541 and a plurality of conveyor support apertures 564, each respectively in registry with a corresponding conveyor support aperture 544 in the movable tank walls 541.

As illustrated, there are provided two crank shafts 570 and 570a, each of the crank shafts 570 and 570a including an eccentric surface 571 and a bearing surface 572, rotation of the shafts 570 and 570a providing orbital movement of if; inch diameter. Disposed about each of the crank shafts 570 and 570a on both sides of the movable walls 541 is a crank shaft seal 576, the seals 576 being circular in shape and each being suitably retained against the movable side walls 541 by means of a circular flange 577, the flanges 577 having an attachment portion 578 and an off-set portion 579, the seals 576 being held between the off-set portion 579 of the flange 577 and the wall 541 by suitable nuts and bolts 580.

As may be seen, the crank shafts 570 and 570a extend outwardly through the movable walls 541 and are supported exterior thereto by pedestals 585. The pedestals 585 include a pillow block 586 inside of which are positioned bearing shoes 587 and bearing sleeves 588, the bearing sleeves 588 are suitably fixed to the crank shafts 570 and 570a by means of set screws 589. Retained within the ball recess formed by the bearing shoes 587 and the bearing sleeves 588 are ball bearings 590. Thus, the crank shafts 570 and 570a have their bearing surfaces 572 rotatably mounted within the pillow blocks 586, all exterior to the tank 530. The eccentric surfaces 571 of the crank shafts 570 and 570a are rotatably mounted within bearing assemblies 595 formed of angle plates 596 having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, the horizontal portion of the angle'plates 596 carrying on the end sides thereof outer races 597. Surrounding the eccentric surfaces 571 of the crank shafts 570 and 570a are a pair of inner races 598, one of the inner races 598 being positioned internally of the support frames 555 and the other of the inner races 598 being positioned external to'the support frames 555, positioned between the inner races 598 and the outer races 597 areball-bearings 600 thereby to rotatably support the crankshafts570 and 570a within the support frames 555 and apertures 563 therein.

Disposed on the bearing surface 572 of the crank shaft 570 outwardly of the pedestals 585 are two drive sprockets 605 and 605a, thedrive sprockets 605 and 605a being fixedly mounted onto the bearing surface 572 by set screws 606. Similarly mounted on crank shaft 570a is an idler sprocket 608, the idler sprocket 608 also being mounted on the bearing surface 572 of the crank shaft 570a by means of a set screw (not shown), the crank shaft 570a being suitably journaled at the other end thereof in like assembly denoted as 602, as seen in the upper portion of FIG. 3. Interconmeeting the drive sprocket 605 and the idler sprocket 606 is an endless chain 607. A motor 610 with a drive shaft 611 and a drive sprocket 612 fixedly connected thereto provides rotation of the crank shafts'570 and 1 570a, interconnecting the drive sprocket 612 with the drive sprocket 605 is a drive chain 613, rotation of the drive chain by activation of the motor 610 providing rotation of the crank shafts 570 and 570a by means of the interconnecting endless chain 607 therebetween and hence orbital movement of the movable walls 541.

'Toweling is transported through the orbital washer 525 by a conveyor supported by a festoon of rollers 620, the festoon of rollers 620 comprising two series of rollers, the series being arranged generally horizontal to and vertically spaced apart one from the other. The festoon 620 is comprised of a plurality of rollers 655 each of the rollers 655 is identical and therefore only one will be explained in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, each roller 655 is supported by a hollow shaft 625, the shaft being rotatably journaled in pivot block 626 as shown in the top of FIG. 3 and carrying on the other end thereof a sprocket 627 fixedly attached to the shaft 625 by a set screw 628. Each of the shafts 625 extends through two aligned holes or apertures 544 in the movable side walls 541; sealing between the sidewalls 541 and the shafts 625 being provided by a plurality of means of appropriate nuts and bolts 640. The shafts 625 are further mounted to each of the support frames 655 by means of an external mounting block 645 fixedly mounted to the support frames 555 by means of suitable nuts and bolts 646; the hollow shafts 625 are provided with the usual and suitable bearings 647.

Each of 'the hollow shafts 625 provides support for a plurality of, hubs 650, the hubs 650 being generally cylindrical in shape and having on one end thereof a tongue 651 and having on the other end thereof a groove 652, the tongue 651 being adapted to fit within an associated groove 652 of the adjacent hub thereby to provide interlocking between adjacent hubs 650, the

outermost hubs 650 being fixedly secured to theassociated shaft 625 thereby to cause rotation of all the hubs therewith. Each of the hubs 650 provides support for the above-mentioned rollers 655, each of the rollers 655 including a circular wheel rim 656 connected to the associated hub 650 by means of a plurality of radially extending spokes 657, the wheel rim 656 carries on the outer surface thereof extending outwardly therefrom a plurality of studs 658, all for a purpose hereinafter disclosed.

Rotation of the shafts 6 25 and hence the hubs 650 and the rollers 655 is provided by means of a motor such as the motor 610 or another drive motor (not shown) suitably connected to drive an endless chain 660 interconnecting each of the sprockets 627 fixedly attached to the end of shafts 625, the endless chain 660 including links 661 and rivets 662 interconnecting the I chain 660 causing rotation of the sprockets 627 and hence rotation of the rollers 655 about the central axis of the shafts 625, all to provide drive mechanism for a conveyor 670.

There is further provided a plurality of idler rollers 655b mounted on two idler shafts 625b journaled in the stationary wall section 531 of the tank 530 positioned near the top thereof and a plurality of idler'rollers 655a supported by two idler shafts 625a, the shafts 625a being supported at a distance from the tank 530, the idler rollers 655a and 6551 serving to provide the endless chain 660 with a return flight 660a. It is noted that the two series of .rollers 655 in the festoon 620 there alternately placed thereby to facilitate the passage of the endless chain over and around one of the rollers and under and around the next adjacent roller and so on through the tank 530 to provide a tortuous path for the conveyor 670 as hereinafter explained.

There is further provided the conveyor 670 for transporting flat work in the form of a plurality of lanes of pervious cloth 675 arranged side-by-side through the tank 530, the flat work 675 being provided from a plurality of tightly wound rolls 676 of toweling such as that vwhich exits from the soil-loosening apparatus 105, the

rolls 676 being positioned side-by-side in a support trough 677 fixedly connected to the left-hand end wall 534,-as viewed in FIG. 6, by struts 678 and extending the width of the washer 525. The conveyor 670 includes a lower endless mesh belt 680 constructed of a corrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel or suitable synthetic plastic material in the form of a balanced mesh including links each formed of a longitudinal portion 681, the longitudinal portion 681 extending in a direction parallel to the longer dimension of the tank 530 and a transverse portion 682, the transverse portion 682 being joined to the longitudinal portion 681 and extending generally normal thereto, the mesh further including a plurality of zig-zag loops 683 connected to the longitudinal portion 681, the loops 683 having a plurality of alternate colinear apexes 684, the longitudinal portions 681 of each link being joined together by a suitable weldment 685. The conveyor 670 further includes an upper endless mesh belt 690, the upper belt 690 being formed of a balanced mesh similar to the lower belt 680 and constructed of the same corrosion-resistant material. As seen in FIG. 7, the conveyor 670 has at one end a loading portion 694 of the lower belt 680 onto which the flat work 675 is introduced, the flat work 675 being transported by the lower belt 680 to a point where the upper belt 690 forms therewith a laminar portion 695 of the conveyor FIGS. 10 and 11, securely holds the flat work 675 between the upper belt 690 and the lower belt 680, the construction of the balanced mesh providing for displacement of the flat work 675 between the full-line position and the dotted-line positions as shown in FIG. 11 during cycloidal movement of the flat work 675 as it is transported through the wash solution 535 in the tank 530, the cycloidal motion being imparted thereto by the combination of the forward movement along the conveyor 670 and the orbital motion due to the tank walls 541 and rotation of the shafts 570 and 570a. As seen, the laminar portion 695 of the conveyors 670 transports the flat work 67 5 over, around and under the festoon 620 thereby to form the tortuous path along which the flat work 675 is transported through the tank 530. The flat work 675 is introduced onto the loading portion 694 of the lower belt 680 and transported thereby to the point where the upper belt 690 joins therewith to form the laminar portion 695 thereof, the laminar portion 695 then being transported, as hereinbefore stated, over the rollers 655 toward the discharge end of the tank 530. As viewed in FIG. 6 on the righthand side thereof and in FIG. 7, the flat work 675 is transported to a point where the laminar portion 695 of the conveyor 670 ceases and a discharge portion 696 of the lower belt 680 transports the flat work 675 from the orbital washer 525. At the termination point of .the laminar portion 695 of the conveyor-670, the upper belt 690 forms a horizontal return flight 697 while the lower belt 680 forms the discharge portion 696 and thereafter forms into the return flight 698 of the lower belt 680, the return flight 698 of the lower belt 690 returning adjacent the bottom 533 of the tank 530 on the tracks 538 provided therefor.

Operation of the orbital washer. 525 is as follows, the crank shafts 570 and 570a are rotated upon activation of the motor 610 by the drive chain 613 and the chain 607 interconnecting the drive sprocket 605 and the idler sprocket 608 connected to the crank shafts 570 and 570a respectively. Upon rotation of the crank shaft 570 and 570a orbital motion is provided due to the eccentric portions 571 of the crank shafts 570 and 570a, this orbital motion is imparted to the movable walls 541 of the tank 530 as hereinbefore described by the rotatable mounting of the crank shafts 570 and 570a in the support frames 557 which are fixedly mounted to the movable wall 541. As the hollow shafts 625 supporting the rollers 655 which in turn support the conveyor 670 are connected to the movable wall 541 by means of the support frames 557 and the bearings 647, orbital movement of the crank shafts 570 and 570a imparts corresponding orbital movement to the movable walls 541 and thereby to the hollow shafts 625 and to the conveyor 670. During movement of the conveyor 670 through the wash solution 535, the conveyor has a longitudinal vector as well as an angular vector thereby to impart to the flat work 675 carried thereby a cycloidal motion with respect to the wash solution 535 contained in the tank 530 thereby to disassociate soil from the flat work 675 comprised of multiple lanes of-pervious cloth arranged side-by-side, the washed flatwork being designated 675a.

The novel arrangement of the orbital washer'525 provides cycloidal motion to the flat work 675 transported therethrough by rotatable shafts 570, 570a and 625 mounted exterior to the washer 525 thereby to prevent contact of the wash solution 535 with the bearings rotatably supporting the shafts. As may be appreciated, the wash solution 535 is designed to cut grease, dirt and oils and is effective against oils which may be used for lubrication and, therefore, contact of the wash solution 535' with the bearings used to mount the crank shafts 570 and S78 and the hollow shaft 625 would result in removal of lubrication from the bearings thereby to burn the bearings and destroy the same.

The novel arrangement hereinbefore disclosed provides for the first time an orbital washer in which the rotating shafts are mounted on bearings exterior to the tank, thereby cutting the maintenance problems I heretofore incurred with orbital washers of this type.

There is further provided herein a novel movable wall prising a tank 530 including movable side walls 541, a

conveyor 670 for transporting the soiled articles 675 through the tank 530, a plurality of shafts 625 extending through the movable side walls 541 of the tank 530 for supporting the conveyor 670, the shafts 625 being mounted on bearings 647 outside of the tank 530, a

plurality of seals 636 between the shafts 625 and the movable side walls 541 of the tank 530 to prevent contact of the bearings 647 with the wash solution 535, thereby to prevent the wash solution 535 from removing lubrication from the bearings 647, drive mechanism including motor 610 for imparting-orbital movement to the movable side walls 541 and thereby to the shafts 625, whereby rotation of the shafts 625 and the orbital movement imparted thereto by the movable side walls 541 impart cycloidal motion to the articles 675 transported by the conveyor 670 with respect to the wash solution 535 in the tank 530 to disassociate soil from the articles 675.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for washing soiled articles comprising a supporting said conveyor, said shafts being mounted on bearings outside of said tank, a plurality of seals between said shafts and said movable side walls of said tank for preventing contact of said bearings with the wash solution thereby to prevent the wash solution from removing lubrication from said bearings, drive mechanism for imparting orbital movement to said movable side walls and thereby to said shafts, whereby rotation of said shafts and the orbital movement imparted thereto by orbital movement of said movable side walls impart cycloidal motion to the articles transported by said conveyor with respect to the wash solution in said tank to disassociate the soil from the articles.-

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said conveyor' includes two foraminous belts retaining therebetween the soiled articles, said conveyor transporting the soiled articles through said tank in a tortuous path.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said drive mechanism for imparting orbital movement to said movable side walls includes two spaced-apart crankshafts extending through said movable side walls, said crankshafts having eccentnc portions thereof in drive mechanism for imparting orbital motion to said movable side walls include two spaced-apart crankshafts, said crankshafts extending through said side walls and being mounted on bearings outside of said tank, a plurality of seals between said crankshafts and said movable side walls to prevent contact of said bearings with the wash solution thereby to prevent the wash solution from removing lubrication from said bearings, said crankshafts having eccentric portions thereon incontact with said movable side walls, said tank for holding a wash solution, said tank including 7 tending through said movable side walls of said tank for I crankshafts providing support for said movable side walls, whereby rotation of said crankshafts imparts orbitalmotion to said movable side walls.

* III 

1. Apparatus for washing soiled articles comprising a tank for holding a wash solution, said tank including movable side walls, a conveyor for transporting the soiled articles through said tank, a plurality of shafts extending through said movable side walls of said tank for supporting said conveyor, said shafts being mounted on bearings outside of said tank, a plurality of seals between said shafts and said movable side walls of said tank for preventing contact of said bearings with the wash solution thereby to prevent the wash solution from removing lubrication from said bearings, drive mechanism for imparting orbital movement to said movable side walls and thereby tO said shafts, whereby rotation of said shafts and the orbital movement imparted thereto by orbital movement of said movable side walls impart cycloidal motion to the articles transported by said conveyor with respect to the wash solution in said tank to disassociate the soil from the articles.
 2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said conveyor includes two foraminous belts retaining therebetween the soiled articles, said conveyor transporting the soiled articles through said tank in a tortuous path.
 3. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said drive mechanism for imparting orbital movement to said movable side walls includes two spaced-apart crankshafts extending through said movable side walls, said crankshafts having eccentric portions thereof in contact with said movable side walls, whereby rotation of said crankshafts provides orbital movement to said movable side walls.
 4. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said drive mechanism for imparting orbital motion to said movable side walls include two spaced-apart crankshafts, said crankshafts extending through said side walls and being mounted on bearings outside of said tank, a plurality of seals between said crankshafts and said movable side walls to prevent contact of said bearings with the wash solution thereby to prevent the wash solution from removing lubrication from said bearings, said crankshafts having eccentric portions thereon in contact with said movable side walls, said crankshafts providing support for said movable side walls, whereby rotation of said crankshafts imparts orbital motion to said movable side walls. 